Day 3: Warm Coffee
by Silverskygazer
Summary: Day 3 of the 12 days of Alumaria, set in your obligatory Coffee shop AU. Coffee is to an utterly exhausted Biology student what blood is to a vampire, but you know how Cafés just love to get your name wrong.


Exhaustion. It was not an unfamiliar sensation to Adrian F. Tepes, no, he was very familiar with it. The way it kept him firmly within his grasp, sapping the strength from his body. Dark tendrils wrapping around him and choking the energy from him. Often he was simply advised to sleep more, but no matter how much he slept, there was no release, no reprieve. If anything, he awoke more exhausted and frustrated than he was when he went to bed the night before.

There was, of course, but one thing that he may take solace in and that was coffee. A dark liquid, bitter and boiling hot, was to him what blood may have been to a vampire and he often mused to himself that perhaps that may not have been so far removed from the truth.

Much like his father before him, Adrian was more than simply partial to an odd cup in the morning to kick-start his day. No, Adrian didn't simply like the drink. He needed it. It may have been genetic, it may have been just because he had completely destroyed his circadian rhythm with the demanding lifestyle of a student.

His mother would be proud of him, at least, for following in her footsteps and pursuing a degree in the science of Biology. She would not, however, be proud of the amount of money he spent on coffee, or his sleeping patterns being as similar to his father's when they had first met.

Thankfully for the young student, he had happened upon a café. At least today would not be the worst he had went through in recent memory. No, that would be when he had attempted to finish a lab report by himself in one sitting and after completing it, immediately slept for 18 hours and almost missed the deadline.

The Café itself was a rather cosy, family-run business, warm colours painted upon the walls and, soft seats upon the booths and a bright, hardwood floor made the interior of the café feel very inviting to Adrian.

The idle chatter of the café's current patrons and the comforting scent of roasted coffee beans filled the air as Adrian's eyes darted around as he attempted to get the lay of the land. He glanced towards the counter and made note that there were two members of staff. One, a brunette gentleman close to his own height, the other, a shorter blonde woman, who caught his glance at her in her own peripheral vision and smiled.

The young lady waved at Adrian, beckoning Adrian over with a grin. He looked around, making sure that she wasn't waving at anyone else, and then pointed to himself as if to confirm that the young barista was indeed calling for him. The shorter blonde nodded from behind the counter and Adrian approached as quickly as his exhausted body would allow.

"Hi there! Haven't seen you around here before! Welcome to the Belmont Brewhouse!" The barista greeted the young man warmly. "I'm Maria. What can I get for you today?"

Adrian paused for a moment, to take a look at the menu to ensure that he would be able to order his usual heart-attack-in-a-cup. They may not have had exactly what he was looking for, but they did serve espresso, and that much would be a start.

"Espresso, please. As strong as you can possibly make it." He requested politely, as he reached into his coat for his wallet.

Maria hadn't expected for this newcomer to be into such a bitter brew. "Espresso, as strong as possible? You're sure? It's going to be really bitter, not to mention how much caffeine is gonna be in it." She asked. Certainly, given his appearance, long and fair hair, a pale complexion, turtleneck and all, she had assumed him to be the sort of patron who would order the most obscure beverage they could, then take 700 photos of their drink and post them god knows where.

"That's right. As strong as possible." He responded, without even a moment's hesitation.

"Alright then. That'll be $1.75. Can we get a name for that?" Maria asked, as she started to ring up the young man's order.

"Adrian." He stated dryly as he fumbled around in his wallet for coins, running his fingers over the different coins before he managed to produce exact change. He placed the coins upon the countertop and slid them over towards Maria.

Maria produced Adrian's receipt from the cash register as she deposited the coins inside and handed it to him. "Here you go, your order number is 26, when your drink's ready, one of us will call on you, okay?"

"Thank you. I'll take a seat, then." Adrian nodded, and took a seat at a nearby booth, setting his messenger back down next to him and producing a laptop from within.

Maria glanced over in Adrian's direction a few times while she began to brew his Espresso. She watched his body language and the way he sat, her gaze almost lingering too long as she barely managed to avoid burning herself on the hot dark liquid that began to fill the plastic cup she had prepared. Would he really drink something as bitter as this? She could not help but wonder.

With a fluid and well-practiced movement, Maria placed a lid on top of the cup and withdrew a marker from her apron. The felt tip of the marker squeaked as Maria wrote a name upon the plastic and sighed contently after examining her handiwork. She set it down on the countertop and put the marker back into her apron. 

Adrian had barely even loaded the research paper he had to read for class before his thoughts were interrupted.

"Order number 26? Your drink is ready!" Maria called out from behind the counter.

"Wonderful." Adrian sighed, as he stood up and strode over casually to retrieve his order.

Carefully, so as not to spill the roasting ebony brew, Maria handed Adrian his coffee. "Here's your order! Hope you enjoy your drink! And I hope it's strong enough for you." She giggled.

"Mm. Thank you, I shall." Adrian bowed his head gratefully and gingerly carried his espresso back to his table. He seemed quite content until he looked at the name that had been scrawled across the clear plastic. "Andreanne? No, no. This won't do at all. I'll have to get another. But, it would be rude to simply go up and ask for a replacement. I'll simply have to finish this one first, I suppose." He muttered to himself, a bit less enthused than he had been before.

As he sat down to enjoy the red-hot drink, Maria tugged at the apron of her co-worker.

"Richter. Psst, hey! Richter!" She whispered to the tall brunette.

Taking a few steps over to her, Richter wondered what she had needed him for. "What's the matter, Maria? Is something wrong?"

"Do you see that guy over there in the turtleneck?" She inquired.  
Ricther's eyes scanned the room before they caught sight of Adrian. "Yes. I see him. He's new, sure, but what about him?"

"He just ordered the strongest and most bitter espresso on our menu."

"Wait, are you kidding me?"  
"No, seriously, look at him!" Maria gestured towards Adrian, who was now thoroughly engrossed in his research paper.

Richter's eyes widened as he watched the dark black liquid pass Adrian's lips. "Oh, wow. I don't see any sweeteners at his table. He's just drinking that straight. And he's only wincing a little bit."

"Only a little?" Maria asked. Richter nodded.

"Yeah."

"….That's… that's kinda hot."

Richter wanted to open his mouth to speak, but his words failed him, and any that could describe what Mari's taste in men was didn't exist on this or any other world. He simply opted to back away from Maria slowly and try to get back to work. He shot another cursory glance in Adrian's direction and saw that barely a third of the espresso from hell remained.

Sweat began to bead under Richter's headband. Anyone who could not only stomach to consume that much caffeine at once, but also consume it at the sheer speed that Adrian had done meant one of two things.

Either they had a death wish or that they were such a true coffee lover that they could potentially run out in a day. The former, Richter had experienced once or twice. The latter? His father had made details of one such individual. A true coffee connoisseur, right out of the family blacklist. If memory served Richter correctly, that gentleman's surname was Cronqvist.

He put it out of mind as best as he was able, after all, this man had only had one cup of coffee and at least he had paid for it. Richter was more concerned, however, at Maria's sudden interest in this stranger.

At last, Adrian had finished his first Espresso, rising from his chair once more and approaching the counter, where Maria was standing wearing an innocent grin.

"Hope you enjoyed your coffee!" she beamed. Adrian nodded in response.  
"Yes, the coffee was strong enough, however, my name was spelled incorrectly. I'd like to order another cup with my name spelled correctly this time." He stated, as he once more opened his wallet and counted out exact change, handing it to Maria.

"Here's your receipt. Your order number is 27. Same as last time, we'll call on you, okay?"  
"As you wish. Also, once more. My name is Adrian."

"Huh?"  
"You said that you'd need my name. It is Adrian."

"Adrian? Got it. I won't get it wrong this time!" Maria saluted playfully as Adrian nodded in approval and set back off to his booth to continue reading his research paper.

Almost immediately, Maria wore a devious smile on her face while she brewed up another espresso as Richter approached her.

"What are you doing?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"I've got a plan to see that guy again." She responded, as she whipped out the marker from her apron.

"And what, pray tell, might that be, Maria?"  
"If you spell his name wrong, he comes back up and buys another coffee, so I'm going to spell his name wrong again… on purpose."  
"Maria no!"  
"MARIA YES!"

Richter nearly screamed into his hands. "Why are you doing this, anyway?"  
"Look at him, Richter. Like. Really look at him. The way he sits, and his body language." Maria gestured towards Adrian who walked slowly back towards his booth. "What do you see?"  
"A guy who really likes his espresso?" Richter shrugged.

"His posture is bad and his skin is pale, and if you look at how he looks at whatever it is on his laptop, he always looks stressed." Maria continued. "He's lonely, Richter, and he looks like he's a student that focuses so hard on studying that he doesn't sleep. Why else do you think he drinks really strong espresso straight?"

Richter cocked his head to the side. "Well, I guess that I can understand, but how could you be so sure?"

"He couldn't make eye contact with me properly, except for when he came in. There's just a vibe about him." Maria stated, as she scribbled another wrong name onto a cup. "I mean he's cute and all, but I think he needs some friends."

Richter scratched the back of his head. "That's… that's some insight you have there, Maria. Just don't go too crazy now, okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I know what I'm doing" Maria smiled before she called out. "Order number 27? Your espresso is ready!"

Adrian quickly made his way to the counter again. Finally the caffeine from the first espresso was starting to kick in and he felt significantly more alive than he did when he came in.

Maria handed it to him once more with a smile, and now that he was more awake, he was much more aware of how she looked. Her soft facial features and bright eyes immediately stood out much more to Adrian than they had but five minutes ago.

"Th-thank you." He stammered, as he took the coffee from Maria's hands. She smiled at him once more and watched him return to his booth, a slight red tinge upon his cheeks.  
Maria studied him carefully once more. He appeared flustered, yes, but there was a soft smile upon his lips. Maria couldn't tell for certain, but perhaps Adrian was enjoying their interactions as well. He may not have been honest with himself when he looked at her, but back in his booth, he seemed to be calming down.

The second espresso hit Adrian much in the same manner as the first, and as he rotated the cup in his hand, the name Maria had scrawled across the cup read "Aelvien", which Adrian was almost certain was not a name that any human could have. He wasn't as disgruntled as he was previously and simply chuckled, this time. With his need for coffee more or less sated, he worked through more of his paper. Hours passed, and yet Adrian continued to purchase more coffees, each time, Maria would write another wrong name on his cup. As closing time approached, Richter approached Adrian.

"Here. It's from Maria. On the house." He stated, as he placed a drink Adrian hadn't even thought of ordering. A tall, caramel iced coffee which looked to be more parts caramel pump than coffee.

"But I didn't order this?" Adrian questioned, as he inspected the drink.

"I know, but Maria insisted I give you it before she left." Richter sighed before leaving. "She won't bite, don't worry."  
Wondering what Richter could possibly have meant by that, Adrian inspected the cup for Maria's trademark misspelling of his name and stopped dead when he found her handwriting. Instead of an intentional butchering of his name as he had come to expect from the pretty blonde barista, there was what looked to be a phone number and a message that simply read "Call me."

Adrian's face lit up bright crimson. Was she serious? Was she simply playing with him? The only way to know for certain was to call.

Taking a deep breath, Adrian dialled the number and to his surprise, the call went through.

"Hi there, this is Maria. Who's this?" Maria asked, despite very clearly knowing who it was through the tone of her voice.

Adrian decided to play along and use one of those pseudonyms that Maria had been so gracious to provide him with. "Hello, this is Andreanne Tepes. You know, from the café?"

Maria laughed warmly on the other line. "Hi, Adrian, wasn't it? Hope you enjoyed your free coffee."

"It truly is divine." Adrian admitted as he sipped from a coffee so intensely sweet it seemed to totally eclipse all the bitter espressos he had drank earlier. "I'll need to thank you for this personally, but I'm not sure how."

"Oh, don't worry." Maria replied coyly. "I'm sure I can think of a way." She hesitated for a moment, voice becoming softer. "Do you mind if… I see you again?"

Adrian slung his messenger bag back over his shoulder and left the café, walking a small distance forward, and leaning his back against the wall of the Coffeehouse adjacent to an alleyway where Maria stood. He took a deep breath before he turned into the alley, facing Maria and answered.

"I'd like that."


End file.
